Moonlight Ruins
by Lilacheart
Summary: As a price to save the lives of Syaoran and Sakura, Kurogane and Fai are forced to take Mokona and leave them behind. In a cruel, unforgiving world full of monsters, the two need to learn how to survive on their own.
1. Chapter 1

**The Moonlight Ruins**

Written by: Lilacheart (I'm sure you all know that.)

_This story takes place somewhere between Tokyo and Infinity. Kurogane has not yet lost his arm, Fai is a vampire, and they are all traveling with the real Syaoran. Sakura is slightly less closed off here. The story is told from Syaoran's point of view. I hope you all like it!_

**_Chapter One_**

I saw the symbol below my 'feet'...seconds before I was dropped on my head.

You know, I really should come to expect this by now.

So, now that I had no idea where we were _and_ I had a pounding headache to boot, I looked around. Mokona, who was usually on top of Sakura's head by this point, had hopped towards me. "Syaoran, are you alright!? Mokona's sorry!"

I forced a smile. It was hard to stay mad at the little guy. "I'm OK," I assured it gently, petting its head. "Don't worry about it so much."

Mokona gave me a hug. This time, I actually did smile. I lifted it up off the ground and placed it on my shoulder. "So, how do I flip from my feet to my head in a few seconds?" I wondered aloud. It let out a weary sigh as I turned to face Kurogane, Fai, and Sakura. They had fared...just about as well as I had.

"...There's something about this place that makes Mokona feel sort of funny. Mokona thinks that's what made you all land badly."

As I got to my feet, I tried to understand what it was talking about. Believe me when I say it wasn't hard. The air around the building just crackled with darkness.

"This place is trouble waiting to happen," I announced. Everyone nodded.

"Is there any purpose looking around?" Mokona asked. "Mokona does sense a feather, but...is it safe enough?"

I wish I'd said no. Damn it, I wish I'd said no. If I had any idea what I was getting the group into, I would've said no.

But I didn't know.

"It's probably worth it to explore," I sighed. Kurogane seemed to agree with me. He got to his feet and started trying to relocate his shoulder.

Fai, however, looked uneasy. "Are you sure?"

"Not really," I admitted. I stepped a couple of paces forward and held out my hand to Sakura. Her foot was twisted at a bad angle. Nodding gratefully, she took my hand, and I pulled her up.

"Are you OK?" She asked me. I nodded. "Yes, I'm fine, I've just got a bit of a headache." I looked down at her ankle. "Is it broken, twisted, or dislocated?" I asked, more than slightly worried. She twitched her foot experimentally and winced.

"...More than dislocated, less than broken. Cracked, I guess?" She suggested. I frowned. "Do you need help walking?" I offered. She shook her head quickly. "No, that's OK."

I wasn't sure about that, but I would take her word for it. I let go of her hand and took a step back, watching her carefully. She placed her foot against the ground and paced for a moment or two, cringing with every step.

"It won't heal if you walk on it, you know," Fai told her. She gave a loud sigh of resignation. "No, it won't, and it will only slow you down..."

I walked back over to her side, and she put an arm around my shoulders. I looked over at Kurogane. "Shoulder's back in place. Let's go," he said briskly. He started to look around the room.

We seemed to be inside a building. It seemed to be a fairly tall one, at that, but this was only an assumption. The walls were dull gray, and were covered in rust. I got the impression that the room, or perhaps the whole building, was unstable.

"Maybe the bad feeling just comes from this place and not the dimension?" Mokona suggested.

"I wouldn't be surprised," I muttered. The room was pretty much empty, save for a couple of dials on the walls.

I walked over to a corner, Sakura still at my side. I pressed my gloved hand against the rust on the wall. When I brought my hand back, however, I felt the pang of uneasiness inside of me grow.

"...This isn't rust. This is blood. Fairly fresh, at that," I murmured. Sakura tensed.

"We should get out of this place," Mokona whimpered with urgency. I nodded my agreement. "Yeah." I turned to face Kurogane and Fai again. "Is the door open?" I wouldn't have been even the slightest bit surprised if it weren't.

Fai walked over to the door and twitched the handle a bit. "Rusted shut. Or, it could just be dried blood, considering your discovery, Syaoran-kun."

"I'll handle this," Kurogane snapped.

I probably should've told Kurogane the safest approach was to stay quiet. Just in case something was here. I guess it wouldn't have mattered anyway. He smashed the door down.

Though I must admit, it looked rather impressive.

"Come on, let's go," Kurogane grunted, taking the lead. I glanced up at Fai, who was chuckling quietly.

"He sure seems to be in a good mood," he laughed. I smiled.

"You think so?"

"If anyone's ever up to adventure, it's Kurogane-san," Fai reminded me. As if I actually needed reminding. He signaled for us to follow as he headed out the door.

"Stay alert for any noises, alright, Princess?" I said. She nodded. "Yeah, you too."

As we proceeded down the corridor, I could feel Mokona tensing with nervousness. I silently wondered what it was sensing. Maybe I was subconsciously noticing it as well. Actually, I think we all were. I noticed that we were all getting uncomfortable as we moved further down this building, looking for a way out. Sakura's grip around my shoulders had originally been gentle, but was tightening with every step we took. Mokona was cowering on my shoulder. Fai was fidgeting. I couldn't stop looking around. Kurogane had a hand on his sword.

And when we heard the sound of footsteps that didn't belong to us, we all snapped. Kurogane whipped out his sword, I summoned my blade with my free hand, (my other arm was supporting Sakura,) and Fai lengthened his vampire claws. Sakura cursed herself for not having a weapon of her own, and I took a moment to comfort her before focusing for the sound again.

The walls began to vibrate, the noise reverberating across the room, and I could hear the sound of crashing from a floor below. There was something banging against the floor overhead. The walls were beginning to dent.

"Kyaa!" Mokona screamed fearfully, leaping from my shoulder and disappearing into Kurogane's sleeve. "Watch it!" He yelled.

"Can you stand on your own?" I asked Sakura. She nodded, releasing my shoulders. I took step forward, my grip on the blade so firm that my knuckles were changing colors.

And when the walls eventually did break open, I _still_ wasn't prepared.

There were about thirteen of them, each with different forms. They were drenched in blood, though I couldn't tell if it was their own, or someone else's. They were humanoid, but looked completely deranged, nonetheless. They had grey, jet black, and orange skin, which was sort of strange, but at the time, I didn't care. They all had blades, vines, bones, guns, whatever, poking out of their skin, and appeared to have a slowly altering skeletal system. Their eyes had no pupils, or anything of that sort. They were just a pure shade of either red or black.

The moment they were through, Kurogane charged and ran through one of the creatures and proceeded to hold off two more. Fai was immediately in combat with one of the...whatever they were.

My biggest concern, however, was that most of them went for Sakura.

"Raitei Shôrai!" I yelled, lightning surging from the blade and at all of the monsters swarming in our direction. Why did everything go after Sakura!? Was it because she was the only girl? Was it because her body collected memories of dimensions she went do? Or was it just plain bad luck? (...Nah, definitely not bad luck, this is _SAKURA_ we're talking about.)

The lightning smashed through at least three of the creatures, which caused them to scream but not exactly die. Three of them caught the lightning and threw it right back at me. The other three deflected it, causing the blows to smash into the wall. The whole building began to shake, and monsters broke through the ceiling. Kurogane swore a bad word, spinning around and running towards me and Sakura.

"Syaoran-kun!" Fai yelled, as he turned to help us. "Are--"

"I think they're after the princess!" I yelled, dodging the lighting and pulling Sakura backwards with me.

"Kid, they might be after you!" Kurogane yelled. I didn't actually believe him. I couldn't imagine having anything that they wanted. Sakura had turned around and was looking for something, anything, to fight with.

I felt a 'blade' skim across my side, and let out a grunt of pain as I retaliated and tried to stab the monster in the eye. There was an unsettling feeling in the now-open wound. I desperately tried to ignore it.

Suddenly, there was a scream.

"Sakura-hime!" Instantly ignoring the battle, I turned to face her. A strange...monster, that can be best described a giant, malformed spider, had smashed a hole in the floor and now had her leg. God, was it creepy.

I broke free from the monster I was in combat with and ran towards her. I admired how she was trying to beat its face with a pipe.

The building started to crumble all around us. I guess my thought that it was fragile hadn't been merely an assumption.

"Leeeeeaaaave!" The spider creature spat. I wondered if it let its word stretch out for emphasis, or if it naturally spoke that way.

"We're not leaving without her!" I snapped, driving the sword straight through it's leg. It let out a blood curdling screech.

"We've got to get out of here!!" Fai yelled. Sakura appeared slightly shaken. "Come on, Princess, it's OK," I whispered, pulling her forward gently. She shook her head.

"Syaoran-kun, your side...!!"

I looked towards my open injury and nearly missed what she was talking about. But I definitely did finally notice it:

My blood was changing color.

I had no idea what this meant, but if I felt sick, my blood was changing color, and the room was starting to distort, which I was only noticing now, then it was a really bad sign.

"We'll worry about it later!" I gasped out. I broke into a bought of coughing, but I had no idea what I was coughing out, or choking on. I had a feeling I really didn't want to know. "Come on!"

I darted after Kurogane and Fai, Sakura limping after us, trying to keep up, as we forced our way through the monsters. The walls were falling away; even the floor crumbling behind us. I found it getting harder to breathe. There was a crash as one of the nearby walls fell in.

"We can't jump from here!" Fai called over his shoulder. "We're too high up!"

"Use magic!" I yelled. I felt a monster sink its _teeth_ into my _shoulder,_ and immediately kicked backwards attempted to get the monster away from me. "Syaoran-kun!" Sakura yelled, taking the pipe and smashing the monster over the head. This served as a useful distraction. I spun around and cleaved its head off, which resulted in a rather startling display of gore.

Fai seemed reluctant as he looked between us. Sakura and I had fallen fairly far behind.

"Go!" I called after them. I didn't want them to wait for us, we would catch up. There was no use in them getting hurt.

Sakura and I were trying to barrel through some of the monsters to get by.

"Fûka Shôrai!" I yelled, a wind barrier swirling around the two of us. I had a hard time understanding what was happening. My vision was sort of cloudy, my eyes were starting to hurt. I dispersed the barrier, forcing the monsters backwards. I did so by infusing another spell in it. Kurogane and Fai were forced to jump over the ledge as a creature charged right towards them.

That spider creature was after us again, as ticked off as ever. It sunk its teeth into Sakura's leg, and I found myself actually smiling when she kicked back and broke one of its fangs. The monster fell off the ceiling and through several of the floors below as I plunged the sword into its gut. However, in the process, my sword was wrenched out of my hands.

The roof entirely collapsed at this moment.

"Get down!" I called to Sakura. There was no way either of us were getting to the exit on time. Especially since the ceiling around the exit had already fallen and sealed it off when we weren't paying attention. Desperately, I grabbed her shoulders, forced both of us to the ground, and put myself in the path of her and the falling building overhead. This was going to hurt.

****

"Syaoran-kun!! Sakura-chan!!" I yelled, my eyes widening in horror. I could see Kurogane was obviously panicked as well, though he was probably covering it better than I was.

"Damn it, kid!" He snarled, darting ahead of me towards the now completely ruined building. The whole building had been huge, and, as Kurogane, Mokona, and I had learned when we'd jumped, we'd been straight in the middle of it.

"Can you hear us!?" Mokona squeaked as we stopped by the rubble. Kurogane was trying to pick up some of the building chunks, but I knew just by looking at them, they were far to heavy. There was no way to move them all and get to the center before two had died, or worse. Fear gripped my heart, and I glanced at Mokona.

"The witch-san! If they're even alive in there, there are monster as well!" OK, now I was beyond panicked. We could not lose the two like this. We'd come too far.

"R--Right!" It nodded vigorously before projecting an image out of its head. I was amazed that Kurogane didn't object.

"Good evening," Yuuko said as she noticed us. She noted the looks on our faces and said "Something's wrong."

We nodded.

"Syaoran and Sakura---!" Mokona squeaked, turning to face the rubble.

"They're trapped under that?" She sounded only slightly surprised.

"We need to get them out. The rubble's too heavy to move quickly, and there are monsters there. Chances are, if the two survived, then the monsters did, too." I said all of this in a hurry. She nodded.

"They are alive. But they won't last long."

I tensed. "Can you do anything to help them!?" It was, surprisingly, Kurogane who technically shouted this at her.

"...Yes, I can. But there's a price."

"Name it," I murmured grimly. We couldn't let them die.

"...Your price...as soon as they're protected...you must leave."

My eyes widened in surprise. What...!?

"Leave the area?" Kurogane asked, not really understanding.

"The dimension," Yuuko clarified.

"But if we leave, we might never see them again!" Mokona wailed in despair. "Mokona can't take them out of the dimension!" She gave a solemn nod.

"Yes. I can save their lives, but you won't get to see them. Maybe ever. Maybe it will be a long time. It all depends on your fate. Maybe you're destined to meet again. Maybe, once the price is paid, you're not." She seemed sympathetic, but that didn't stop me from feeling a bit angry at her. "Make your choice. Time isn't on your side."

I glanced at Kurogane. One option guaranteed never seeing them (at least, not alive,) ever again. The other ensured their survival with...pretty much the same results. It wasn't a hard decision. It was actually extremely easy. None of us had any doubts on our choice. And at the same time, I think Kurogane, Mokona, and I all agree it was one of the hardest decisions we had to make, even though we all knew our answer.

"We'll pay. Just save them first," I said through gritted teeth. She glanced at the three of us, then nodded. "Here, take this, Mokona," I heard her mutter. Mokona spit out a small orb and handed it to me.

"Place it beside the ruins," Yuuko instructed. Nodding my head slowly, I put it down by the rubble. There was a long silence, and then the orb exploded into a silver light, which shone brightly in the darkness. I hadn't really noticed that it was late, about midnight, until the orb had lit up the whole area.

"What does the orb do?" Kurogane asked, turning to face Mokona and Yuuko.

"It kills anything without a soul, and will feed and take care of anything with one."

"...Those creatures we fought were soulless?" I asked. Yuuko nodded. "There are very few things in the dimension you're on that has a soul. I highly doubt anyone will come out to help those two." She glanced towards the crumbled building. I noticed that there was actually a lot of dust and ruined remains of buildings all around the area.

"How will they get out?" Mokona whimpered. I saw that it was starting to cry. I kneeled down beside it and placed a hand on its head.

"Chances are, it might take a while. The magic that surrounds them, however, should keep them protected until they do. They'll be fine, at least until they get out. Trust me. They won't suffer."

My eyes were shut now. The light had split, and a golden light was heading straight at us. I glanced curiously back at Yuuko, only opening my eyes a crack.

"That light is going to take you to a different dimension," she informed us. I nodded, done asking questions, but Kurogane obviously wasn't.

"How will they know where we are when they get out!?" He asked. I gave an extremely forced smile. And even when forced, the smile only showed that I was miserable. "They'll know," I told him. "I'm sure it will be obvious."

The light surrounded the three of us, and the picture of Yuuko faded out. I got one last glimpse of the metal and stone ruins before it faded from sight. "I'm sorry, Syaoran-kun, Sakura-chan," I whispered. "Good luck to both of you. Maybe we'll cross paths again someday."

There was a long sigh, as I heard Kurogane mutter "Damnit."

And then we were gone.

***

My eyes slowly flickered open. "S--Sakura-hime?" I murmured. I tried to move, but found I was completely closed in. My back ached, the wound in my side was still bloody. My blood, however, was a silver blue color. This was actually unnerving in itself. I realized I had Sakura in my arms. I placed a hand on her neck, feeling for a pulse. It was there. I could barely feel her breathing at all, but I noticed that this was because neither of us were really breathing. Not heavily, or normally. It was extremely cramped, and I guessed that was fine, because if we breathed too fast, we'd use up oxygen. As her eyes slid open and her gaze locked on mine, I realized that she had been conscious for a while, but she was using her energy to stay awake.

"Are you alright?" I whispered. She gave a slight nod. "Yeah."

I tried to move, to find a way out, but there was too much rubble, and I couldn't get myself, let alone the fallen building, to budge. Perhaps there'd been something on the other floors. Something much heavier to make floors higher up. The whole building clearly hadn't been made of metal. Who knew what the constructors had been thinking when they made this damned building?*

"Where are Kurogane-san and Fai-san?" I asked.

"I don't know, I've been conscious for about an hour, maybe two, and I was calling their names before you woke. I haven't heard anything from them." Her words came out as a soft whisper, but there was no mistaking the fear in her voice.

"It's going to be OK," I whispered. I wasn't confident in my own words. I guess it showed.

"...Thanks for taking the impact," she whispered.

"It's no problem. I'm sorry for not being the other Syaoran." I wasn't really kidding, either. This had been bothering me, and I saw, on multiple occasions, it bothered her, too.

"Don't apologize. Please." She pressed her face into my shoulder, coughing out some dust.

"Have any monsters shown up?" I asked.

"One did, but it withered and exploded into nothing."

I found this confusing, but I didn't press for details.

Then I noticed a silver light seeping in through some of the dust. "What's this...?" I asked. Her eyes were panicked. "I don't know."

I tensed. I suddenly realized why I wasn't having any luck moving the rocks around us. (Or, at least, one reason). I was stupid to think I could when a lot of my bones were broken. No wonder everything hurt.

The light mist didn't do anything for a while. I only noticed it's effect when I felt my grip on Sakura slacken. I attempted to let go of her, to give her more room to breathe, but found that I no longer had any control of my arm. Sakura's eyes had clouded over completely.

"Don't...let me go..." she whispered. I didn't want to, but in the end, I had no choice. I almost felt as if I was forced onto my back, and in the process, I don't recall when, I released Sakura. I couldn't move. And not just in the sense of being crushed, but at all. My mind was freaking out, my body was doing the exact opposite. Eventually, my eyes fell shut.

And that's how it went. I couldn't tell you how much time passed. But it was a while. And neither of us were ready for what faced us when we awoke.

***Who knew what the constructors had been thinking when they made this damned building? - I know what they were thinking! 'Heh, I'm so drunk...' xD I'm trying to make this story serious, but I HAD to put that somewhere.**

**Authors Note: I've asked a friend of mine to write Kurogane and Fai's side of things, so don't fear, they will still play a part. Anyway, if you read this story and like it, please drop a review or a PM or something so I can get opinions. Constructive criticism, ideas, and comments of any sort are welcome. If you've even bothering to read this authors note, thank you for your time xD -Lilac**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter Two_**

The rubble crumbled away to my right. It was the first time I'd noticed something in a long while, but I'd barely noticed that I'd noticed something, so I stayed unmoving. I was still tired.

Then the 'wall' to my right gave away entirely. Feebly grasping for a hold and failing miserably, I slided down the rock path and skidded to a stop on the dusty floor. I coughed violently, clouds of dust escaping my lungs as I did.

Somehow, this still didn't wake me up. A second shape slowed to a stop beside me.

"...I'm still tired," the girl murmured.

Admittedly, I found myself smiling. So was I. But I guess we had to get up. I heard my sword clatter down and stop right in front of me. The lack of control I felt on my limbs was gradually fading. Somehow, sitting up became a project of trial and error. I'll spare you the details. But eventually, I was looking around, trying to remember what had happened as I sheathed my blade using magic. It was as if my memory itself had gone rusty. Small bruises and cuts covered my arms and legs. My back was sore, but I was otherwise fairly numb. My leg was twisted to an unpleasant angle, but it didn't hurt at the moment. Perhaps it had healed incorrectly.

And then it all came flooding back. The building had collapsed with me and Sakura inside. How were we still alive--But in the next second, I didn't care. Kurogane! Fai! Mokona! Where were they!?

Maybe due of exhaustion, the panic I suddenly felt inside seemed out of place.

"Kurogane-san! Fai-san!" I called.

"Mokona..." I heard Sakura try to yell, but it sounded more like a yawn. I guess she wasn't truly awake yet. Maybe I'd sounded like that. I hadn't really been paying attention.

All we got back was a resounding echo. The rocks of the ruins began to vibrate beside us. I glanced over at it, more then slightly uncertain.

"I'm sorry, Syaoran-kun, Sakura-chan..."

My eyes widened. This was...Fai's voice...Sakura moved her hand towards my shoulder, but instead pulled back, gripping her wrist instead.

"Good luck to both of you. Maybe we'll cross paths again someday."

Kurogane's voice finally sighed out a single word: "...Damnit." Or maybe that's two words. Again, I'm not really awake yet.

Once again, it fell back into silence.

"...Can we crown him the master of the understatement?" Sakura asked. She wasn't really trying to get my attention, I think she was trying to cheer herself up; I heard a tone of sadness in her voice. Tone being an understatement, too. Her voice was full of it. We stayed silent for a long time, just letting the news sink in.

"...They're gone," I finally said aloud, as if trying to wrap my mind around it. I'll add that that's exactly what I was trying to do. "Kurogane-san, Fai-san, and Mokona. They're all gone. Which means we're alone."

"We're not alone," Sakura disagreed nervously. "We have each other. It's all we have, but...we can make something out of that, right?" It really depended if she would let herself make something out of it.

I nodded slightly. "Yes." I was forcing away my tears, my sadness...just about everything. I couldn't let myself break down. I was stronger than that.

"Then I say...the first thing we do is get away from this rubble."

I glanced up at her. I needed to step up. I couldn't crack and make Sakura take the decisions. Mind you, I knew she was capable of it, but it can be a stressful position. The last thing either of us needed was more stress.

"Yeah," I agreed, standing up. Sakura stood in front of the rubble that had sheltered us. Now that I was more alert, I could see the silver magic surrounding it.

"...I think I know why they're gone," I murmured, turning my glance away from the ruin, which was glowing in the moonlight. (Time-wise, it was really late.)

"...Me too. We owe them our lives, don't we?" She asked. I nodded. "Only we can't pay them back. I suppose that was the price? Damnit, that witch..."

"There's nothing we can do now. They're gone. Who knows how long they've been gone. Chances are they're already--" I could hear Sakura trying to force out the words.

"Stop." I placed a hand on her back, even though I was reluctant to do so. I almost immediately pulled it back. "Sure. This sucks. But now's not the time to angst about it. First thing we need to find is a shelter better than a bunch of rocks. And food, wherever that can be located around here. Maybe other people, but...I have doubt we'll find any." She nodded. I let her step forward and pick up a rock. The magic that had sustained us, or what remained of it, swirled around the stone and then entered inside of it. "Maybe this will be useful," she muttered. I nodded. "Let's go."

We walked away in silence. We were going somewhere, but neither of us knew where. Hell, neither of us knew what we were looking for. I think we just wanted to walk, maybe to find something that would take our minds off of our predicament. Off the loss, I guess. Kurogane, Fai, and Mokona had served as our family...or, well, Sakura's, anyway. And my clone had been fairly close to them. Which made me wonder why _I_ was feeling loss. I hadn't known them that well...perhaps watching them for a long time through my right eye had gotten me attached to them as brothers. Wow, I was pathetic.

"Syao...Syaoran-kun?" Sakura whispered, snapping me out of my thoughts. I glanced up at her. "Do you think that might be a place to stop?" I looked up to see...nothing much. There was a lone tree, a good glimpse of the nearly full moon, and a river. The river water was clearly tainted; I doubted it was safe to drink, and never would be, no matter what we tried. But it was all we had, at least, for the moment.

"...Yeah, probably, for now," I sighed.

"You sound sick," she noted, her voice filled with worry that sounded more forced, if anything. I sure felt ill.

"Syaoran-kun...this is going to sound bad...but...can you please take off your shirt?"

What kind of question was that?

"Why?"

"I stumbled over and knocked you in the side earlier. Your body tensed painfully. I'm wondering if your mind is tuning out your injuries." She gave a half-hearted smirk. "As usual. The other Syaoran would do that all the time..." She trailed off and looked away.

"...How long have we been walking?" I asked. I had no idea.

"Hours."

"...Time flies, huh?" She gave a quiet, dry laugh. "Yeah."

I walked over to the tree, and as I did, I realized Sakura must've had a point. My body ached horribly, and now that we had slowed down, my twisted leg was screaming in protest to moving. This might've actually been that silver magic wearing off. It had a long, drawn out affect, it seemed. I leaned against the tree, now grateful to have stopped moving.

Now that I was still, I complied to Sakura's request, pulling off my shirt, which was torn up in itself. She'd been right, too. My body was covered in bruises that stood out more then the ones on my arms and legs, the ones I'd noticed when I'd awoken. They were deep blue-black and purple in color, and pretty much covered my entire back and ribcage, from what I could see. Sakura was cringing.

"...That has to hurt," She finally said. I nodded. "It does. A lot." But I knew when she said 'hurt' she meant 'you should be dead.' We both should've been. The weight of the building rubble over our heads, from what I could recall, had been horrible, and had been gone when I'd woken up the first time. (When I'd talked to Sakura, before the silver magic had knocked us out. Something like that.) "...We don't have anything like first aid, though," I sighed. "So I'll just have to pull through it."

"...I'm sorry, Syaoran-kun," she whispered. I sighed. Even when she was genuinely worried, she seemed to put an uneccessary strain on the honorific. As if she were forcing herself.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." I pulled my shirt back on. "Are you injured?"

"No...I think you took the brunt of it." She sounded guilty. "But I'm tired." She sat down on the other side of the tree. "Very tired..."

Which was weird, and we both knew it. Truth was, though, I was tired as well, so I didn't care. She gently rested her head against the tree trunk, her eyes falling shut. I smiled. I wished silently that it was the clone with her right now, though. It had nothing to do with her personally, I just figured she would probably be happier that way. Her happiness was all that mattered, really. I forced myself upright, went around the tree, and sat down next to her. I checked her body language, wondering if she was going to tense or cringe, but no, she seemed to be asleep already. Pulling one of my gloves off, (I'd needed them in the last world we were in,) I placed my hand on her forehead, checking for a temperature. She seemed fine. And out cold. Not that I was surprised. Very carefully, and silently hoping she wouldn't be angry tomorrow, I shifted her head from the tree to my shoulder. I figured it had to be more comfortable that way.

While she was asleep, there was something else I wanted to check.

Unsheathing my sword, I pressed my finger gently against the sharp edge. It delivered a quick jolt of pain into my hand, but it was nowhere near as bad as the bruises I felt. Maybe I had some sort of internal bleeding. (I'm not a medical expert, but...) Wow, this doesn't really bode well for my life expectancy. Maybe I'd get off lucky. I already considered still being alive as lucky, to a degree. Drawing my finger back, I stared at the silver-blue blood that leaked from the small cut. I watched it run down my palm with a cold gaze, unsure of what to think. What had happened to me?

I took a couple of long breaths, then shut my eyes. I needed to rest. I rested my head against the back of the tree.

Seconds before I finally managed to sleep, there was a scream. My eyes shot open, my heart pounding fast. I desperately hoped I'd imagined it. But no, there was a second scream. And it sounded like Sakura. I quickly turned my head to be sure Sakura was still at my side. She was. I took her shoulder and gently shook her back and forth. She didn't respond.

I wasn't sure whether I should've been worried. Chances were she was just unconcious and I couldn't wake her up. For the clone, it hadn't been unusual.

But chances were also that something was truly wrong. And I couldn't overlook that.

"Princess!" I whispered urgently, grabbing her shoulder and shaking her a bit more violently than I had before. No response. There was a third scream, emitted by a different voice, only it cut off shortly.

I was torn. I didn't want to leave her here. _Especially_ when she wasn't waking up. If there were people screaming nearby, something was definitely wrong. But we'd agreed that if there were people here...well, we needed to find a group. Somewhere where we weren't so exposed.

"Forgive me, Princess. I'll be right back, OK?" I tore my gaze away from her peacefully sleeping body and gently but quickly rested her back against the tree before taking off towards the sound, blade in hand. I glanced back at her several times while I could still see her, but nothing appeared, nor did she wake.

Every single step I took delivered agony to my battered body. I tried my hardest not to cry out. I _couldn't_ cry out. I had to be able to take so much more than this.

Being just a blank, dusty field, it wasn't hard to find the source of the screams. A girl with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and animal ears was being mercilessly stabbed and bashed around by three of those monsters that we'd met when the building had still stood, however long ago this had been. There was a second girl who looked like Sakura, only older by ten or so years. She was unconcious by a rock.

I was in no condition to fight. But I couldn't just sit back and watch. This philosophy was SO going to get me killed someday. Unsheathing my sword and clinging to the last of my energy, I pressed my middle and index fingers against my sword and whispered "Raitei Shôrai!"

Because there was no way they were going to hear a whisper over the noise they were making. And the element of surprise can be pretty important.

The lightning smashed right through them. Their high-pitch, echoing screams filled the air. I cringed painfully, shrugging my shoulders to try and cover my ears and regretting the movement needed to do so instantly. The blast wasn't strong enough to kill these creatures, however. The monsters were no longer paying attention to the girl, who had passed out on the floor. Instead, they came for me...then stopped. I wasn't just going to sit there and stare at them. I brought my sword down over one of their heads.

They all disappeared quickly, reappearing just as suddenly in an organized attack. One of them wrapped an arm around my stomach and waist. I kicked backwards, nailing it between the eyes, causing it to bite my foot and dig in, hard. It wasn't my best idea, seeing as the movement left my balancing on my twisted ankle. I crumpled forward, and felt the monster press a hard hand against my neck. I gasped with pain as its possibly-clawed hand sunk deeper into my skin and raked through my back. I felt a cold hand that was sticky with blood wrap around my ankles, preventing me from kicking out again. It kept its other hand on the flat edge of my blade, pressing it into the ground. I shuddered, then looked up to face the one standing in front of me. The leader, perhaps...?

It crouched down in front of me...and spoke.

"Why do you attack us, boy?"

I forgot to respond for a moment, instead thinking 'Holy crap, this thing has a gender!?' This one was female. Her voice made in clear. I was also thinking 'how does this thing speak my language...?'

"I attacked because you attacked them," I snapped violently ('them' referring to the two unconcious girls), trying to pull out of the grasps of the other two and failing. Even I had my limits, and I knew I was pushing them, hard.

"That's how we make a living. We take the souls of others, or the bodies of others, and convert them into the fuel we need to stay alive." Her voice was smooth. "Is that so wrong? If I'm correct, humans used to do it all the time. With cattle, pigs, fish..."

I didn't care that she had a point.

"If you think I'm going to sit here and let you kill me-" I began. I could feel the blood welling up in my back, by the clawed hand. She silently analyzed my blood for a moment. These creatures were definitely getting on my nerves.

"I won't kill you," the lady-monster said. "There's practically no point."

"Practically--" I started, only to be cut off again.

"Yes. Your blood color. It indicates that your soul's corrupt. You just need one last finishing touch. Allow me."

I still had no idea what she was talking about, but it scared me, now.

She pressed her finger into my forehead.

"Stop it!!" I shouted, lifting my arm, slipping the blade out of one of their grips, and slicing her hand clean off.

"Auralin rora...!" I heard a voice pant. With an abrupt spark in the air, the small space we were in was suddenly on fire. There was more screaming from the creatures, as I felt them pull backwards, and disappear to who-knows-where. Flames danced around me, along with crackling lightning.

Panting, I murmured "Fûka Shôrai..." A scattered barrier formed around me, defending me for the most part, though my non-damaged leg did receive some burns. The flames eventually scattered. I dropped the wind spell, which had been on the verge of collapsing on its own, and staggered to my feet.

"Corrupt soul, huh? Did that creature have some sort of poison on its claws...?" I briefly brought my hand to my side, where the monster had split it open. It appeared to still be healing, seeing as there was a hard scab over it. I discarded my wondering, my pain, and my worry for a moment as I limped forward to the blonde-haired girl, who was on her back, fighting for breath. The one who looked like Sakura was nowhere to be found.

"Nem...?" she murmured to me. I bit my lip. I didn't speak her language, whatever it was, I could tell now. [This language is made up by me and my friends. I'll post a translation at the bottom.] Did all people here speak this language...? I frowned as I crouched down to where she was laying.

"Your name?" I asked her. I wasn't sure if she would understand me. I didn't think it would matter, even if she did. She was dying, her name wasn't really important, nor was mine. Slowly, she placed a hand on her heart and weakly cocked her head. "Yim?"

I sighed. I had no idea what that meant. I nodded, pretty much winging it now.

"Chii." Her voice was as forceful as I was going to hear. I assumed this was her name. She rested her head against the floor and started muttering something incoherent.

"Teh talea sil...teh sicum...tis kayana..."

Her eyes began to slide shut. I gave her a sympathetic smile, feeling sorry that I couldn't understand her words.

"H-Hona...mua..." she whispered, gently clasping my wrist. I forced a smile, increasing unease growing in me. I had to get back to Sakura. It was a question of whether or not I could in my condition...

I stayed there until her hand grew cold, and the color drained out of her blue eyes. "...Chii, huh?" I muttered. "I'm sorry I didn't come sooner."

"Hey!!" Someone screamed. I glanced over my shoulder to face a small cluster of six or seven people. There was one person standing in the front. He reminded me of Shougo. I carefully released Chii's grip on my wrist and lowered her hand to the floor before standing and turning away. I knew I more likely then not needed to find people. But I'd left Sakura for far too long. I had to go back.

"Mua!" The person screamed.

"I don't speak your language!" I shouted back.

"That's fine, because I speak yours."

My eyes widened, and I spun around to face...me. Only older. I was pretty much staring and a twenty-three year old version of myself, though his age is just an estimate.

"I've got somewhere else to be," I murmured. I could feel darkness beginning to fall over me while I tried to shake it off. I couldn't sleep. Not until I was back to that tree, which I knew was about two or three minutes away.

"Judging by the aura surrounding you, I doubt you're going anywhere in that condition," he said.

"I have to."

"OK, so for a different question: Is that silver blood yours?"

"..." I sighed. I could lie, but the moment I turned my back again, they were going to figure it out.

"Does it matter?"

"It's a matter of if you're beyond rescuing."

Rescuing? I didn't know what that meant. I didn't care. If they meant saving me from those monsters, I didn't need protection. If this had something to do with my theoretically corrupted soul, then whether or not it was beyond saving was for me to work out. My gaze darkened. If something happened to my soul...would I become just like my clone...?

"I need no help from anyone. Are you just offering because I look like you?"

"...I don't know what you look like, I'm blind," he answered. "I am asking about the silver blood because it has a particular scent that I recognize, and it's staining the area. A lot of it."

"Nevermind that. Is Chii-san a friend of yours?" I asked. "Then I'm sorry to inform you that she's dead."

I turned around and ran as fast as I could. Two or three minutes away? I was worried that this short run was going to kill me. Even worse was that I could hear their footsteps, and some of their gibberish yelling. They weren't coming at me exactly yet, first going to check their fallen comrade, but it was only a matter of time.

"I didn't say that I did it..." I whispered to myself, but I needed to reserve the rest of my breath for running. I never had such a problem running for a short distance, but when you're burnt, bruised, cut, battered, and have a twisted leg, it sort of adds up.

I could finally see the tree.

But Sakura was gone.

"Princess..." I whispered. My eyelids fell closed, and I couldn't seem to force them open, though I tried. I slowed to a stop. The footsteps that I could hear almost directly behind me moments ago had sharply stopped. Everything fell deathly quiet for a moment. Then I heard someone else scream.

"Prin...cess..." I whispered, crumbling to my knees, my energy gone.

"Tired..." I murmured. I blacked out.

--

**"Nem...?" [Kid...?]**

**"Yim?" [Me?] **

**"Chii." [Chii. Her name.] **

**"Teh talea sil...teh sicum...tis kayana..." [The starry sky...the music...it's beautiful...] **

**"H-Hona...mua..." [Th-Thank...you...] **

**--**

_A/N: Heya! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I stopped centering the text, I hope that makes it easier to read. ;) Anyway, I'll have the next chapter up pretty soon, so stay tuned! ^_^_


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